I've Got No Excuse
by Forelsket
Summary: Even the fallen, immortal or not, do not want to spend the rest of their lives alone.


I've Got No Excuse

Eric Northman Story

Chapter 1

A young woman pulled into the parking lot of a dimly lit business and stepped out of her car. The humid air stuck to her skin instantly and it made her uncomfortable so when she entered the air conditioned building she couldn't help but sigh in relief. The lobby she stepped into was as dimly lit as it appeared from the outside and had people scattered sparsely throughout it. Walking to the front desk she noticed that there was no receptionist so she stood there awkwardly until she heard a sweet voice ask "What may I do for you, darling?" Snapping her head up the woman's eyes meet a very eloquent looking woman around her age. The woman herself was rather good looking but the woman before her seemed to just put her to shame. Her skin seems to glow and everything about her seemed perfect, like nothing was out of place, not even a stray hair.

The woman debated on asking if she was a vampire, since they seemed to be popping up all over the place now that they had 'come out of the coffin', but decided that that would be rude and instead told her that she was looking for answers. The woman before her smiled gently at her before handing her a clipboard with papers to fill out and a pen and telling her to return back here once she was finished filling it out. Whispering a 'thank you' she proceeded to sit in one of the seats and fill out her papers.

As she was doing so people around her finished their papers and the same woman would come back and either tell them "I'm sorry, but our services here will not be able to help you." or "Please step this way." And the people would follow her into a back room, with every rejection her heart would speed up at the thought that she might not get help. The woman had tried everything and this was truly her last hope and she was going out on a limb with being here.

Upon finishing she walked slowly up to the front desk and within seconds the woman was before her, she didn't have to even do anything which made her wonder if they were being watched from some hidden place. Not giving it much thought though she handed the clipboard to the woman and watched nervously as her eyes read the words she had written down moments ago.

Time seemed to slow as she waited for her 'verdict' and when the woman had finished and brought her head up to look at her with the everlasting smile upon her face the young woman's heart seemed to stop. "Please step this way." She let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding.

Following the woman who seemed to just glide down the long and narrow hallway she found herself in another dimly lit room, but this one was filled with beds, some empty, most full. She was brought to one of the last remaining empty beds and asked to lie down on her back with her arms to her sides and to close her eyes. She did as she was told while the woman stood over her head. "Now relax," she told her in a soothing voice and the woman found herself relaxing almost instantly. She heard the woman get on her knees behind her head and put a hand on each side of her head. "Think of all your problems, hold onto them, and when I count to three you will take a deep breath and fall into a deep sleep." She nodded, unsure of what would happen, but surly enough once the woman counted to three, she took a deep breath and fell asleep.

When the woman opened her eyes again she was in an all white room with no furniture, the bed she had been laying on was gone along with the other beds and people. She looked around quickly and when her eyes went back to their original view the woman from before was standing before her wearing all white. She jumped back pulling a hand to her chest over her heart. When the woman just simply tilted her head to the side the woman told her that she had frightened her and the woman replied with a curt nod and a soft apology.

"Where are we?"

"That doesn't matter, what matters is what we are here for, to answer your questions on what you should do." Her ever present smile was beginning to creep the woman out, she seemed almost too sweet.

"Um, okay… How will we do that…?" Her heart rate began to quicken.

"First we will bring to attention the sins that you have committed, then we will figure out your course of action." The woman nodded slowly and confused, she was not someone of religion. "Miss Avery you have committed the sins of lust, greed and wrath. How do you feel about your actions?"

"H-how did I commit wrath?" Her nerves were on edge.

The woman cocked her head to the side and answered as if she was surprised she didn't already know the answer. "You committed murder." The answer camee out simply, like she was speaking about the weather.

"I never murdered anyone!" The woman yelled outraged.

"You had an abortion, you extinguished a life, unless the definition of the word has changed, you have indeed committed murder." There was no waver of her voice, she was sure of her verdict.

"But I didn't want it! I couldn't take care of it!" But her client was not so sure.

The woman eyes began to squint ever so slightly in annoyance. "You could have given it up for adoption."

"How could I pay for all of the medical bills, or anything?" There must have been some way out of this for her.

"You are willing to waste your money here but not spend money to save a life? " Her teeth clenched at the thought.

"But, that's not fair! I wasn't the only one to make the thing, why am I the only one who has to suffer?" The desperate tone of her voice wouldn't reach the other woman's ears though.

She could not restrain the scoff from leaving her mouth and the pathetic creature before her's willingness to selfishly sacrafice the man. "Because he wasn't the one who murdered the innocent child. He wanted it and you went behind his back and murdered his child, he may have committed the sin of lust but his fate is out of my hands. Yours however, is not."

The woman fell to the floor weeping as she apologized profusely to the woman standing before her. She begged her for forgiveness and asked what she could do to repent. The woman knelt down and brought a hand to her shoulder bringing the fallen woman's sobs to a stop. When they locked eyes she spoke to her in a quiet but strong voice. "I want you to go home and sell everything you own, then once you do that you will give all of your money to a charity to help new families support themselves. Once you have done this you will end your life and be forced to live out eternity wandering lost and alone." The woman nodded as the last of her tears slipped from her eyes. "Now wake up."

The girl opened her eyes and found herself back into the room she has slept in, most of the beds around her were now empty but some people were still asleep around her. She got up and was escorted out of the building by a man she had not seen until now.

At the end of the day when all of the costumers had left the young woman stood with her arms above her head successfully cracking her back. "Abel..." She said turning to the man to her left.

"Yes El." He looked down at the woman next to him.

"We had a lot of sinners today." She turned her face away from his gaze.

"That we did." He never took his eyes off of her.

"A few vampires too." He could see her tense.

He debated to reach out and put a hand on her shoulder before deciding against it. "Quite a few indeed."

"I have a bad feeling about this…" The young woman said before biting her lip.

His lips formed a thin striaght line. "As do I Gabriel… as do I."

Gabriel's Outfit - .com/cgi/set?id=27271931


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